Reports, proud muckraking, photos, videos and musings from the veteran LGBT and AIDS human rights advocate Michael Petrelis. Based in San Francisco since 1995.
Contact: MPetrelis_at_AOL_dot_com.
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Monday, July 22, 2013

Dore Kink Fair: Music Volume & Nudity Policies Explained

The 2012 edition of the Dore Alley Fair, held the last Sunday of every July in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, was the best ever in my opinion and a huge reason why was the decrease in the usual level of music sounds.

MUSIC. Our DJs are Jim Piechota, James Torres, LUTHER, and David Harness.
As the day picks up, you'll probably end up hearing LUTHER and David the
most. LUTHER is more of a deep house sound so it's not quite so shrill,
and David you may remember from the Universe/Pleasuredome days.

Now, if
you find the music to be at all too loud, please feel free to introduce
yourself to Troy Markle who is the Entertainment Manager (and you'll
probably find him behind the stage). He can ask that JK Sound adjust the
output/volume. Sometimes our DJs get a little out of hand, but I always
debrief with my team in the morning and we can always adjust as the day
progresses. NUDITY. We have our regular morning debrief with SFPD at 10:00am. We will
review nudity as an issue, of course. I don't know what kind of education
and training has been done within the ranks of SFPD; but, I do know what I
can review with them at our event. And, I don't know if you know this or
not, but we have dedicated free space on the fairgrounds to nudist activist Mitch
Hightower and his folks to help educate people about the nudity law.

Very happy Demetri and his team have, um, heard the concerns of fair-goers who don't want music so loud you can't chat or hear the crack o' the whip or the dogs barkin' and we know who to connect with on Sunday with music concerns. Good to see continuing engagement between the producers and activists!

I won't get pushy (moi?) this year about a change in music styles I wish to propose to Folsom Street Events, the fabulous producers of the Dore and Folsom kink fairs. At future fairs and SF Pride celebrations, though, I'd like time set aside for any of the following: Motown girl-groups, rousing Bowie or Springsteen or Rolling Stone or Sly and the Family Stone.

Thanks Demetri for the transparency on two crucial elements that make for gratifying queer and kink street events.